Tuesday, March 15, 2011

In a press conference held today, the running order for both of the Semifinals was held, as well as the singing positions for the Big Five nations automatically qualified for the Final (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom).

Semifinal 1:

Poland (given a wildcard and the opportunity to pick their placement, the Polish delegation decided to open the show, just as Magdalena Tul had done in her National Final.)

Norway

Albania

Armenia

Turkey (Followed by a commercial break)

Serbia

Russia

Switzerland

Georgia

Finland

Malta

San Marino

Croatia

Iceland (To be followed by another commercial break)

Hungary

Portugal

Lithuania

Azerbaijan

Greece (Another wildcard, the Greeks decided to close the show.)

Semifinal 2:

Bosnia & Herzegovina

Austria

The Netherlands

Belgium

Slovakia (Given a wildcard, the Slovak delegation chose a lucky number with a personal meaning. This song will be followed by a commercial break.)

Ukraine

Moldova

Sweden

Cyprus

Bulgaria

FYR Macedonia

Israel

Slovenia

Romania (To be followed by a commercial.)

Estonia

Belarus

Latvia (This was another wildcard draw.)

Denmark

Ireland

The Finals:

11. France
12. Italy (Followed by a commercial.)
14. United Kingdom
16. Germany
22. Spain (The Spanish delegation chose this position for their wildcard draw, as it was Lena's winning position for Germany last year.)

It looks like the First Semifinal is pretty well-balanced, with uptempo and slower songs more or less alternating until the end of the performances. The second semi, however, is a bit less balanced, with a number of slower songs in the beginning of the night, and ending with uptempo numbers from Romania, Estonia, Belarus, Latvia, Denmark, and ending with the undeniably energetic Jedward.

What do you think? Does this favor any songs, or give any entries a disadvantage? As voting is now open throughout the entire show, does the running order even matter anymore? In the final, will having consecutive nontraditional ESC entries from France and Italy help or harm Amaury and Raphael? Will Serbia, Hungary, Ukraine, and Estonia be hurt by performing right after commercial breaks (die-hard ESC fans often plan their bathroom breaks very judiciously, but a line for the loo could mean lost viewers!)? I'd love to hear what you all think!

11 comments:

Samantha! You've made me really nervous! lol :S I don't like Estonia's position now... When I first saw that it was near the end, I was really content but now you've made me worry that nobody is going to watch it because of the commercial. :S lol

::insert dramatic music here!::Of all of the post-potty-break songs, I think that Estonia probably has the least to worry about! Bookies seem to be generally favorable to "Rockefeller Street", and most ESC fans I've been in touch with are Getter Jaani fans. I'm not one to place bets, but I've got a sneaking suspicion that Estonia will survive this minor speed bump. ;-)

How long is a commercial break? I have never watched Eurovision live, hopefully until this year, provided my studies allow for it, which is why I am asking.

I love how you are trying to account for all practical issues! I think the loo break concern, though, is a minor one!

I find it pretty cool that two of my favourites will be opening both semi-finals! Both Poland and Bosnia and Herzegovina have such strong entries with which to open a show, so they really are setting the standard. Both have high chances of qualifying (then again, if BiH is to win the whole thing as I expect, it has to qualify!).

I really don't like Poland. I don't know if its just the tune or the fact that it's not in English. Don't get me wrong, I don't think all Eurovision songs should be sung in English, in fact I strive for countries to choose in their national language. However, I don't see how I can like a song that I don't understand, because the lyrics are such a big part of what makes a song good. There are extremely rare songs that aren't sung in English that I like. (My favorite song of all time in Eurovision is actually Estonia 2009 - sung in Estonian) I didn't like Albania until it was in English, now its in my Top 10. I think its because when its not sung in English, to my ears, it makes the song sound just like a bunch of noise. Either way, I don't like Poland. I do like Bosnia however! ^_^

Well, I'm a language nut by nature, so I'm thrilled to see Magdalena sticking with the original Polish. I tend to listen to ESC songs a lot before the Semis and Final (unlike many people, who try to limit their exposure to them until they see the presentation). I like to see the songs evolve and change. Also, when a song is in a language I don't understand, it gives me the opportunity to check the lyrics out and get a deeper understanding of what the message of the song is. It's pretty rare that I like a translation more than the original, but I like what Albania and Hungary have done, keeping at least a part of the original language in there. The Polish translation, however, was pretty rough...

As for Bosnia, it's still very high on my list, often making it to number 1, depending on my mood! (It's been fighting with Albania, the Netherlands, Hungary, Italy, and the UK...)

I really want to know what your top songs are! I made a video of my top 10 on eurovision. lol But mine fluctuates frequently so I will have to make a new one soon. You should post a blog about your tops since all the songs are now released. ^_^

Forgoing any discussion about being a language nut or concerns over cultural integrity, the Polish version is better than the English. Firstly, the title, "First Class Ticket To Heaven", has a propensity to sound tacky unless it really suits the song. I had hopes that Magdalena might make such a title actually work for the song. Unfortunately, it does not do the song justice. Also, I do not like the shortened verse and the lengthened chorus. When you get to the titular lyric, "we got a first class ticket to heaven", you realize that the added length adds nothing, which is part of why the title is no good. The new mixing is interesting, though, especially in the bridge, though I do not know if this mixing should be used in Düsseldorf. Going into the Eurovision Song Contest, I find that the most successful ones do not try too hard to impress.

Jestem, in Polish, makes me want to learn Polish! Also, title is easy to remember, and now everyone learned a new phrase in Polish! All those s sounds and other Polish consonants blend so beautifully with the song. She is selling the whole package to us as it is, so why sell herself any lower by singing in English? She rocks, and everyone can see that. I am glad she listened.

i don't listen to pop lyrics music but the song represented by France is really amazing.it's really different from the others.i think it's the best this year.estonia ,uk, sweden ,hungary are quite the same so there will be a struggle between these 4 countries to be in the second place.

Jack:I'm planning on posting an entry soon about my official favorites and my predictions (as those can often be very different!), but I'm hesitant to make an actual ranking, as my "favorite songs" change often. I might sort songs into categories, like "love it", "like it", "not bad", "not great", "don't want to admit that I like it", and "makes me want to rip my ears off my head". ;-)

Samantha,I know exactly what you mean. My tops change a lot too. I think, however, the closer it comes to the actual show, then the more my tops solidifies. I'm just really excited for it and I can't wait. I think its a blessing that we have this competition every year and not every four years like the Olympics. Because I love the Olympics as much as I love Eurovision. The good thing about Eurovision is that you get the feeling of "I can't wait for it." Whilst with the olympics, you get the feeling of "you have to wait because if you don't your going to be anxious for four years." lol